Wimbledon 2008 Update

25Jun08

MEN’S NEWS

Nadal cruised past German qualifier Andreas Beck 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-0) in two hours 19 minutes.

Andy Murray safely negotiated his opening match at Wimbledon, but not without some nervous moments against wily Frenchman Fabrice Santoro. The British number one, seeded 12th, came through 6-3 7-5 7-6 (7-5) to set up a meeting with Xavier Malisse.

Nikolay Davydenko’s miserable Wimbledon record continued on Tuesday when the fourth seed was stunned in straight sets by Germany’s Benjamin Becker. Becker converted four of his five break points to seal a fine 6-4 6-4 6-4 win.

Two-time finalist Andy Roddick, seeded six, brushed aside the Argentine Eduardo Schwank 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/0).

Becker, 27, was broken by Davydenko once but sent down 10 aces to help set up a match with Arnaud Clement after the Frenchman beat Jonas Bjorkman 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

“First round matches are always a little uncomfortable at any grand slam,” said Roddick, who is joined in the second round by ninth seed James Blake after he beat Christophe Rochus 3-6 6-3 6-1 6-4.

The unseeded Grosjean enjoyed a similarly comfortable passage, cruising to a 6-2 7-5 6-1 victory over Italy’s Potito Starace.

Paul-Henri Mathieu, seeded 14, recovered from an uncharacteristically sluggish first set to drop just four games in the subsequent three to overcome Oscar Hernandez 3-6 6-2 6-0 6-2, while Gilles Simon sailed to a 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over Dawid Olejniczak.

In the battle of the Czechs, 16th seed Radek Stepanek ousted Jan Hernych 6-3 7-5 6-0 and the unseeded Serb Viktor Troicki awaits him in round two after he beat Nicolas Lapentti, who retired hurt.

British number one Andy Murray’s French Open campaign was ended by Nicolas Almagro and the Argentine showed his talents extend beyond clay by dispensing of Marcel Granollers-Pujol in four sets.

Tommy Robredo has made only one previous appearance at SW19, which ended in a third-round defeat in 2003, but he generally seemed at ease during his 6-1 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 win against Kristof Vliegen of Belgium.

Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen was the first man through on day two when the 24th seed benefited from Wayne Odesnik’s retirement at 6-3 0-0.

Another seed to ease through his first-round match was number 27 Nicolas Kiefer, appearing at the All England Club for the 11th time.

The 30-year-old German beat Julien Benneteau 6-1 7-5 6-3 and will now play Argentina’s Martin Vassallo Arguello, a five-set winner against Ivo Minar.

Another big name to fall was number 26 seed Ivan Ljubicic. Ljubicic fought back from losing the first two sets against Jurgen Melzer, only to succumb to the unseeded German in the fifth.

WOMEN’S NEWS

Third seed Maria Sharapova shrugged off a minor second-set downturn to claim a 6-1 6-4 victory over Stephanie Foretz in the first round at Wimbledon.

Venus Williams opened her Wimbledon title defence with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 win over Naomi Cavaday, despite a spirited display from the Briton.

Second seed Jelena Jankovic also had a straightforward passage with a 6-3 6-2 win over Ukraine’s Olga Savchuk.

Meanwhile, veteran Ai Sugiyama set a new record for consecutive appearances in Grand Slam tournaments. The 32-year-old beat Yanina Wickmayer 6-4 6-2 in her 57th consecutive appearance in a Grand Slam, beating the previous record of South Africa’s Wayne Ferreira.

Another 32-year-old, 1999 champion and 25th seed Lindsay Davenport, battled through injury to record a 6-3 5-7 6-3 win over Renata Voracova.

Ninth seed Dinara Safina held off a spirited first-set challenge from Yung-Jan Chan to seal a 7-6 (10-8) 6-2 win, while Daniela Hantuchova, Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova all had good workouts before sealing victories.

Fellow seeds Victoria Azarenka, Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, Sybille Bammer and Caroline Wozniacki also progressed to the second round.

India’s Sania Mirza, the 32nd seed, recorded a scrappy 7-6 3-6 6-4 win over Colombia’s Catalina Castano as she continued her comeback from a wrist injury.

But 23rd seed Katarina Srebotnik fell to an epic 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 16-14 defeat at the hands of Germany’s Julia Goerges.